Mommy's Weekend Off

A couple of weeks ago, Lyndon's friend got married in Emo (about 4 hours away) and I couldn't go to the wedding because I had children to watch in daycare. So, we made plans for Lyndon to head out Thursday evening after work and come back Saturday night. Then, out of the blue, Lyndon said, "Why don't I take Kallie with me?" My first reaction was NO! She can't be away from me overnight (this was a first!) or for two whole days or...wait a minute...two whole days! To myself!!!??!? Um, OK! So, Thursday came and off they went...it was a VERY weird feeling having them both gone, and I missed them, but I definitely enjoyed the time to myself! My daycare kids were coming in the afternoon on Friday, so I got to sleep in BOTH days, which was amazing!

Daddy got her all dressed up for the wedding...and even an attempt at a ponytail was made, it just didn't last:) I was impressed that he tried, considering he thinks it's ridiculous every time I put her hair up:)
Long Trip!

Lyndon just LOVED having her all to himself! They don't get tons of alone time b/c I'm always around, so for him it was a real treat! What would have been frustrating for me (Kallie not sleeping well in a new place and so sleeping in our bed so as not to wake everyone else) was great for Lyndon. One of the first things he said when he got home was, "we should do this again soon, and more often!" Sounds good to me:) It's nice to have the time to myself, but more importantly, great for Kallie and her daddy to have that bonding time! The next trip sounds like it might be camping! I'll keep you posted:)

Happy Father's Day (a little late:)

And so it begins...

I know it's already passed, but I had to wish the dads in my life a happy father's day...to my dad and my father-in-law...Happy Father's Day! You are both such important people in our lives, as dads and grandpas, we love you so much and are so thankful for you!

And to my wonderful husband, Lyndon, I love you and am so grateful to be married to someone who is such an amazing husband and father. You are absolutely the best dad for Kallie...you light up her world and she is a total daddy's girl! I'm so thankful to be going through this journey of parenthood with you!



It's such a blessing that the three most important men in Kallie's life are so incredible!

Happy Belated Father's Day to all the dads out there!

13 Month Update

First I must say, I know I'm outdoing myself posts-wise...normally I'm a once-a-weeker if I'm lucky, and this will make for three days in a row! If no one else is impressed, that's ok, I'm impressed with myself enough for everyone;)~ And I'm sure this won't last very long....

So, on to the main event! Kallie turned 13 months old yesterday! It was such a big deal for me leading up to one, and now it's already over a month since that milestone! I must say, this age is SOOOOOOO FUN!!! Lyndon and I are both getting a huge kick out of this stage:) Kallie is such a joy, she's becoming such a little girl and I just love her personality.

Here are some tidbits about our Kallie Paige:

Her personality: Kallie is extremely friendly, outgoing, and affectionate. She is always giving other babies and kids (from my home daycare) kisses. She loves to say 'hi' and get right in their face (in a nice way) so they'll say hi back! She loves to share her toys, always handing them right over. She's just so excited to play with other kids and is always very gentle and kind. She's also a total goofball (like her father:). She loves to laugh, and do funny things for attention.



Her favorite foods: Kallie really loves hummus (the extreme garlic, takes after me:), yoghurt, bananas, spaghetti, and daddy's asian stir-fry. Really, she'll eat anything with gusto, I feel blessed to have a good eater! But those ones she especially enjoys.

oh, and coffee of course! She is half Dutch after all:) Don't worry, it's empty!

What she likes to do: Kallie LOVES being outside, going in her wagon, reading stories, and DANCING! Anywhere, anytime, if there is so much as a beat, she's on it:) She wiggles her bum, her shoulders, waves her arms, it is hilarious and such a joy to see:) I'll try to catch her on video:) Kallie really loves people and hanging out, but she's also great at playing by herself. Hmmm...does it sound like I think she's perfect?:)



New things: In this last month, Kallie has cut her two front teeth on the top. It's made for some rough nights, but the second one finally cut through yesterday so things should be getting better! She has become a climber extraordinaire! She will climb anything and everything! She's had some falls, but she gets right back on whatever she was climbing...so apparently it couldn't be that bad! Lyndon and I really believe in letting her learn things for herself, so unless she's in real danger or could get seriously hurt, we let her figure it out:) Seems to be working so far. She's also taken a couple of steps on her own, but she's very particular about the circumstances:) She seems ready, she just has to decide she wants to.

I'm so excited for each passing day because we get to see more and more of who she is! She's such an incredible little girl, and we feel so blessed!

What a Goof!

Kallie absolutely LOVES bathtime and water. We always have her standing beside the tub while we fill it up and get her towel and stuff ready, and she loves to put her hand under the running water. A few weeks ago, I turned around to put her towel down, and when I turned back, I saw two bright-pink robeez going over the edge. She had gone in head first, FULLY CLOTHED. After my moment of panic, I calmed down (there were only a few inches of water), and saw the amusement in it. I decided to let her play for a while, she was already wet, why not?:)

Here they are, finally! (a few anyways:)

Well, I'm finally back in the land of internet, email, facebook and blogging! I have so much to catch up on...I've taken a lot of cute pictures of Kallie these past couple of weeks, and of course, house pictures!

These are some before and afters, just of the living room and kitchen, we still have a lot left to do on the rest of our house (our bedroom and office are actually construction zones) and need to do some major decorating:)!! You'll notice the living room is still without any decor...we need curtains, pictures, area rugs etc., but who knows how long that whole process will take with everything else we still have to do, so here are the pics of what it looks like now, and as we finish things and decorate, I'll keep updating:) We didn't change anything in the kitchen except paint...that project is a little too big to take on just yet!

KITCHEN BEFORE

KITCHEN AFTER

(I still need to paint the trim around the windows)

LIVING ROOM BEFORE

LIVING ROOM AFTER
All we changed about the fireplace is the charcoal slate in front (straight from India!), we're hoping to completely re-do the fireplace eventually...we'll see:)
Because our living room is so long, this end is Kallie's playroom. We'll be moving the desk upstairs into the office. As our kid(s) get older, we want to turn this end into a library/music area, but for now, all the toys are staying:)Kallie and Browjoy hanging out in the playroom (side note: Lyndon made that chair in the corner:)

I have to take a minute to recognize and thank Lyndon...almost everything you see in those pictures (except the paint in the kitchen...that was all me:) is because of him. He is such an amazing carpenter, and such an incredibly hard worker...he put in ridiculously long hours getting everything done, and he did an incredible job. I'm so thankful to have such a talented husband!!!

So far, we're just loving living here! It is a bit overwhelming looking at everything we still have to do, but we see such a dramatic transformation already, that we just love it! And we're both ok with working on things a little each day and seeing it all come together. I think houses are generally a work in progress, and I'm sure even after we finish everything we want to...we'll find another project to start:)

Tonight we're finishing Kallie's room (hanging pictures, curtains etc.) so hopefully I'll have some pictures to post tomorrow!